Julia Sorrell (born 4 August 1955, in

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

) is a British artist known for her portraits and imaginative drawings and paintings using figures and natural forms such as wood, shells, rock and plants using a range of media from pencil, charcoal, pen & ink, pastel, watercolour and oil. She lives in Oxfordshire and exhibits in London at the

Mall Galleries Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian street * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria * The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India * ...

as a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours.

Early life

Sorrell was born in

, the daughter of the artist Alan Sorrell (1904–1974) and the

watercolourist Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

Elizabeth Sorrell (1916–1991). She grew up in a converted chapel in

Daws Heath Daws Heath contains a large area of woodland in eastern Thundersley, part of Castle Point near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England. It is traversed by the Daws Heath Road and St Michael's Road. Daws Heath provides a semi-rural escape for local towns ...

, southeast Essex, surrounded by trees and woodlands which were to be an inspiration for her later work.

Career

She studied textiles and embroidery under Constance Howard MBE at

Goldsmiths' College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

(1973–6) who purchased her work to use as examples in talks and publications. She was taught drawing by Betty Swanwick RA (who was to produce the artwork for albums by rock group

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

), and she sold her first work at the

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, s ...

at the age of 19. Following the death of her father, she turned more towards drawing and painting, and gained a place at the Royal Academy of Arts(1978–81). Whilst a student there her self-portrait gained second prize in the first National Portrait Gallery Portrait Award, 1980, now known as the

BP Portrait Award The BP Portrait Award is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly ...

. This led to a series of portrait commissions including one from the National Portrait Gallery to paint

Michael Ramsey Arthur Michael Ramsey, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury, (14 November 1904 – 23 April 1988) was an English Anglican bishop and life peer. He served as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. He was appointed on 31 May 1961 and held the office until 1 ...

, the ex- Archbishop of Canterbury. Her letters describing this experience were borrowed by Michael Ramsey's biographer

Owen Chadwick William Owen Chadwick (20 May 1916 – 17 July 2015) was a British Anglican priest, academic, rugby international,Lambeth Palace. In the 1990s she exhibited at the Maas Gallery with the dealer

Rupert Maas Rupert Nicholas Maas (born 23 July 1960) is an English painting specialist and gallery owner best known for his appearances on the long-running BBC One series ''Antiques Roadshow'' where he has been a member of the team of experts since 1997. Bi ...

, and had a series of paintings purchased by the collector Professor

Philip Rieff Philip Rieff (December 15, 1922 – July 1, 2006) was an American sociologist and cultural critic, who taught sociology at the University of Pennsylvania from 1961 until 1992. He was the author of a number of books on Sigmund Freud and his legacy, ...

which were then exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1996. A decade later she was exhibiting with Waterhouse and Dodd,

Cork Street Cork Street is a street in Mayfair in the West End of London, England, with many contemporary art galleries, and was previously associated with the tailoring industry. It is part of the Burlington Estate, which was developed from the 18th centu ...

. She was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 2008, the Royal Society of British Artists in 2009, and the

Norwich Twenty Group The Norwich Twenty Group (N20G) is a group of artists in Norfolk, England. Stimulated by contemporary art movements, the original group of 14 artists, met in November 1944, they intended to raise standards of local professional art to something ...

in 2010. In 2015 she was awarded the first TravelArt Award from the ACE Foundation ACE Cultural Tours, and asked to go to Orkney to produce an exhibition of work under the title: “Wild and Ancient Orkney”. The work concentrated on the coastal landscape features and archaeology, and was exhibited first at

Abbott and Holder Abbott and Holder is an art gallery and dealership in London, England, that specialises in low-price, 19th- and 20th-century English paintings, watercolours, drawings and prints. The gallery has been located at 30 Museum Street, London WC1 s ...

, in London (2016), and then at the

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research is a research institute of the University of Cambridge in England. History The institute was established in 1990 through a benefaction from the late Dr Daniel McLean McDonald, a successful ind ...

, Cambridge. For the final exhibition at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge ACE Cultural Tours, Julia produced her unique over 2m tall hand-embroidered sculpture “Reverence” using hand spun Orkney wool. Her work is also in the collections of the Beecroft Art Gallery, the

Chelmsford Museum The Chelmsford Museum is based in Oaklands House, an historic property off Moulsham Street in Chelmsford, Essex. It is a Grade II Listed building. Oaklands House The house was designed by Charles Pertwee for Frederick Wells, a director of the ...

Reading Museum Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing th ...

New Hall Art Collection The Women's Art Collection (before 2022, the New Hall Art Collection) is a permanent collection of modern and contemporary art by women artists, at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge (previously New Hall), England. It includes over 600 works b ...

and

Laporte plc Laporte plc was a leading British chemicals business that operated from 1888 to 2000. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The Company was founded by Bernard Laporte, a German Chemist, in ...

. Her work is in the collections of the Beecroft Art Gallery, the

, The ACE Foundation at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge ACE Cultural Tours, The

, Cambridge and

Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It ...

Writings

She has written articles frequently about her own work and that of her father Alan Sorrell for The Artist, British Archaeology Magazine,

Current Archaeology ''Current Archaeology'' is a British monthly archaeology magazine. Summary ''Current Archaeology'' describes itself as the "United Kingdom's best selling archaeology magazine", a claim substantiated by British Archaeological Jobs and Resources ...

Minerva (archaeology magazine) ''Minerva, Archaeology and Ancient art'', is a bi-monthly magazine publishing features on exhibitions, excavations, and museums, interviews, news items, and book reviews. History and profile ''Minerva'' was established in 1990 by Jerome Eisenber ...

, and

Antiquity (journal) ''Antiquity'' is an academic journal dedicated to the subject of archaeology. It publishes six issues a year, covering topics worldwide from all periods. Its current editor is Robert Witcher, Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University ...

. In 2014 she was commissioned by Oxbow Books, to write a biography of her father Alan Sorrell,
.

References

External links

Julia Sorrell: official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorrell, Julia 20th-century British painters 21st-century British painters Living people British portrait painters 1955 births People from Westcliff-on-Sea Norwich Twenty Group Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours British embroiderers